“First, we invented stories.
Then, stories invented us.”
Then, stories invented us.”
Aliya Davletova & Felix Deflorian
Opening: 13.11.2026, 6–9 pm
Josefstädter Straße 14
1080 Vienna
Stories shape the way we perceive and understand the world. They emerge through images, words, memories, and imagination, acquiring meaning through personal experience and collective interpretation. Material objects carry these stories across time, while imagination transforms them into new forms.
Between Matter and Myth brings together two distinct artistic practices, exploring the relationship between materiality, narrative, and the meanings we construct around them.
Felix Deflorian explores the physical presence and cultural significance of printed media through abstract compositions made from compressed paper. His works evoke the structure of a domestic library, reflecting on the book as an object that holds knowledge, stories, and the potential to inspire imagined worlds. His recent use of newspaper extends this investigation into the circulation of information and its influence on collective perception. Through the transformation of familiar materials, he gives new visual form to objects that shape how we encounter and interpret the world.
One practice gives tangible form to a universe shaped by personal imagination, while the other reinterprets the physical objects through which stories and information circulate. Together, they reveal a continuous exchange between matter and myth, where objects become carriers of meaning and imagined worlds acquire a physical presence.